Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,an inexhaustible treasure in heaventhat no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lampsand be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servantswhom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watchand find them prepared in this way,blessed are those servants. Be sure of this:if the master of the house had known the hourwhen the thief was coming,he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied,“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent stewardwhom the master will put in charge of his servantsto distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servantin charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself,‘My master is delayed in coming,’and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,to eat and drink and get drunk,then that servant’s master will comeon an unexpected day and at an unknown hourand will punish the servant severelyand assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s willbut did not make preparations nor act in accord with his willshall be beaten severely;and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s willbut acted in a way deserving of a severe beatingshall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

In the gospel today, faith moves from trustful abiding with God to action, readiness. It is this active faith which is the context for Jesus' characteristic subversion of the master/servant relationship. Faith is the context in which we discover God's limitless generosity.